The Reading Teacher's Playbook with Eva Mireles

Welcome to the Reading Teacher's Playbook—your go to source for upper elementary literacy teachers (grades 3-5) seeking evidence-based literacy practices. Listen in as Eva simplifies literacy instruction, promotes sustainable growth, and empowers you to create engaging lessons that make learning stick. Your host, Eva Mireles, will provide you with practical tips and tools for confident teaching, while fostering a love for reading in your students. Let's huddle up and learn together! Visit her website to learn more: https://evamireles.com/

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June 14, 2026

Summer Reset Series: Systems Are the Real Self-Care for Literacy Teachers

In This Episode We Discuss Many teachers think they need better time management, more productivity hacks, or stronger self-care routines. But often the real issue isn't a lack of effort. It's a lack of systems. In this Summer...

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June 10, 2026

Season 12 Recap: The Biggest Literacy Instruction Lessons from Read Aloud, Retrieval Practice, Writing, and Learning Science

In This Episode We Discuss Why student thinking—not compliance—became a central theme throughout Season 12 How read aloud, accountable talk, writing, and learning science all connect to helping learning stick The difference b...

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May 26, 2026

Keeping Writing Instruction Front and Center Until the Last Day with Lanesha Tabb

Episode 137- Listen to this interview with Lanesha Tabb as we talk about: 1. Closing the gap between student thinking and student writing 2. Using grammar and sentence-level instruction to improve writing quality 3. Keeping ...

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May 25, 2026

Using Retrieval Practice to Keep Learning Alive Until the Last Day with Dr. Shane Saeed

Episode 136- Listen to this interview with Dr. Shane Saeed as we talk about: 1.The role forgetting plays in learning. 2. Familiar vs Known and the role it plays in student learning. 3.What retrieval strategies to use now as y...

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May 12, 2026

How to Maintain High Expectations in Your Literacy Classroom Until the Last Day of School

Listen to this interview with Naomi O’Brien as we talk about: 1.What high expectations are as it relates to your literacy classroom. 2. How maintaining high expectations saves your sanity and keeps end of the year chaos at ba...

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May 10, 2026

Clarifying your end of the year vision for your upper elementary literacy classroom

In This Episode We Discuss Why end-of-year classroom routines often fall apart after testingHow to maintain high expectations in your upper elementary literacy classroom through the last day of schoolThe connection between te...

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May 5, 2026

Why Most End-of-Year Plans Fall Apart and What to Do Instead

In This Episode We Discuss Why most end-of-year classroom plans fall apartHow to move from reacting to intentionally designing the end of the school yearThe three patterns that lead to behavior shifts and loss of structure af...

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April 28, 2026

Why Students Forget What You Teach and How to Design Lessons That Stick

Listen to this interview with Dr. Pooja Agarwal as we talk about: 1.What’s actually happening when students aren’t holding on to what we have taught them from one day to the next. 2.How to think about retrieval strategies as ...

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April 21, 2026

Designing Read Aloud Lessons That Build Understanding (and Actually Stick)

Episode 131 How to design read aloud lessons that build understanding—not just engagement The difference between read aloud that supplements vs. supplants your instruction Using read aloud to teach reading skills like charact...

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April 14, 2026

Accountable Talk During Read Aloud: How to Move Beyond Turn and Talk to Real Thinking

Episode 130 Show Notes Accountable Talk During Read Aloud: How to Move Beyond Turn and Talk to Real Thinking Why student talk doesn’t always lead to deeper thinking How to structure read aloud conversations to move beyond par...

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April 7, 2026

Why Read Aloud Still Matters in Grades 3-5

Episode 129 - Why Read Aloud Still Matters in Grades 3–5 Classrooms In this episode we talk about: Why read alouds still matter in your Upper Elementary literacy classrooms. How Read alouds support learning science, How Read ...

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March 31, 2026

Revisiting a Conversation: Why You Should Read What Your Upper Elementary Students Are Reading

In this episode: Listen in as I interview Stacey Riedmiller of Literacy for Big Kids. We talk about the what, the why and the how of reading what your students are reading. We talk about: 1 .What- What does it mean to read wh...

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March 28, 2026

Why Students Forget What You Teach and How to Design Lessons That Stick

Listen to this interview with Dr. Pooja Aragawal as we talk about: 1.What’s actually happening when students aren’t holding on to what we have taught them from one day to the next. 2.How to think about retrieval strategies as...

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March 24, 2026

How to Fit Science of Learning Strategies Into Your Upper Elementary Literacy Mini Lesson

Episode 127 In This Episode We Discuss How to incorporate science of learning strategies into your literacy block Using retrieval practice in reading lessons Why spaced practice improves student learning Turning learning obje...

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March 17, 2026

Designing for Transfer in Reading Instruction

Episode 126 — Designing for Transfer in Reading Instruction Goal: The goal of this episode is to understand what you can do to help support student transfer of information through the application of knowledge in your upper el...

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March 10, 2026

What Really Drives Student Motivation?

Episode 125 — What Really Drives Student Motivation? Goal: The goal of this episode is to understand what fuels student motivation in your upper elementary literacy classroom. We talk about: 1.What really fuels student motiva...

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March 3, 2026

Teaching Students How to Take Charge of their Learning

Episode 124 — Teaching Students How to Take Charge of their Learning Goal: The goal of this episode is to help you walk away with the what, the why and the how of getting your students to take charge of their learning. We tal...

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Feb. 25, 2026

Designing Reading Lessons That Outlast the Pacing Guide

Episode 123 :Designing Reading Lessons That Outlast the Pacing Guide Goal: The goal of this episode is to help you design literacy lessons that promote transfer and long-term learning — even when that means making intentional...

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Feb. 17, 2026

Helping Students Build Connected Meaning in Your Upper Elementary Literacy Classroom

Goal: The goal of this episode is to help you walk away with tangible tools for helping students build connected meaning within and across texts. We talk about: 1.Concept Mapping 2. Recap of chapter 6 of Smart Teaching Strong...

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Feb. 10, 2026

Why- How Your Students Learn and Practice Matters in your Upper Elementary Literacy Classroom?

Episode 121 — Why- How Your Students Learn and Practice Matters in your Upper Elementary Literacy Classroom? Goal: The goal of this episode is to help you walk away with tangible tools for choosing how to teach and practice ...

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Feb. 3, 2026

Why Learning That Lasts Often Feels Hard

Episode 120 — Why Learning That Lasts Often Feels Hard Goal: The goal of this episode is to help you understand why learning that lasts requires productive struggle and how retrieval and spacing routines help learning stick ...

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